Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. ~Psalm 51:7 (NLT)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I had a dream the other night that I had a stained shirt, and I said to whoever was in my dream, "I'll take it to my mom -- she can get it out!" My mom is a master at getting out stains in clothing! Me, on the other hand? Well, let's just say that I'm not so talented in the laundry department (I scorched/ruined my white dress shirt yesterday right before church, after thinking I wanted the iron just a little hotter---ooohh, that burned me!...no pun intended :-(
Dirt and stains require attention to get out. I can't just hope and pray that my laundry will miraculously get clean, just sitting in the laundry basket. I can't just hang up a dirty shirt, hoping against hope that the next time I take it out, it'll be clean. It takes intervention...washing. So, too, do we. We are like a dirty shirt. Spiritually stained and, dare I say, stinky!
Our sinfulness, both from birth and as we daily live, gets our spirits dirty -- and it takes washing to get clean. The problem is that we can't clean our soul ourselves. No amount of religious rituals or good deeds can take away the uncleanness of our spirits. Many people try to "get clean" by working hard to be a better person, trying not to do wrong things, looking and acting religious on the outside, hoping it will somehow make their "dirty shirt" clean. But that's just like sitting in the laundry basket, dirty, and never getting in the washer -- they just won't get clean, until God does the washing. He is the only one who can clean a person's spirit from the dirt of sin. But praise God there is hope for us! We can get clean, if we go to Him in honesty and humility, desiring to be made clean by His power...
The Lord says,"Come, let us talk about these things. Though your sins are like scarlet, they can be as white as snow. Though your sins are deep red, they can be white like wool. ~Isaiah 1:18 (NCV)
But if we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right. He will cleanse us from all the wrongs we have done. ~1 John 1:9 (NCV)
There's an old Maranatha chorus that I've always loved. It's simple, has a beautiful melody, and speaks from a humble and thankful spirit, blessed by being made clean in spirit by the power of God. May you know this cleansing as you go to Him with an honest heart...
White as snow, white as snow
Though my sins were as scarlet
Lord, I know, Lord, I know
That I'm clean and forgiven
Through the power of Your blood
Through the wonder of Your love
Through faith in You
I know that I can be
White as snow...
~ White as Snow, by Leon Alguin
Love,
Joelene
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment